I hopped off the plane at Logan International Airport with a dream and my cardigan.
After being in Boston for no more than 30 minutes, all of my previous perceptions about the city had been washed away by Boston’s largest rainstorm in 50 years.
After three days of constant rain and wet socks, the sky cleared, and I was finally able to see the beauty of the city. I basked in the sun and stared open-mouthed at skyscrapers, Fenway Park and the numerous historic sites around the city. I was also able to see – and meet – many Bostonians devoting their lives to social justice in the city and the world.
Our group of 14 students of many ages and majors filed into a building at the heart of Chinatown on the first day of sunlight. We toured the facilities and met Anthony Zuba, organizer for the Massachusetts Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice, an organization devoted to standing up for the rights of all people being treated unfairly in the city. At the building, we listened to a woman tell her story of injustice. In August, the Hyatt Regency in Boston fired almost 100 housekeepers who had worked for the hotel for more than 20 years. The workers who replaced the veteran employees were paid half as much for doing double the work. The Hyatt claims the cuts were necessary due to the economy; however, it found enough money to buy another multimillion-dollar building. Also, no other hotel in the area had to take such drastic measures to save money.
Basically, the workers were treated unfairly, and they were unable to find jobs that would match their previous salary. Zuba and others are working to get their jobs back while also working with current hotel employees, teaching them English, showing them how to make a bed without hurting their backs and teaching them cooking skills if they wish to move up to a position as a cook.
Zuba said faith can take you on an incredible journey if you let it. He chose a path devoted to social justice instead of a life devoted to a wife and two-and-a-half kids.
During Justice Week, I heard a lot of speakers tell me what I should be doing or what they were doing, but nothing really sunk in until I met Zuba and saw what he was doing – devoting his whole life to justice. I’m not sure his path is one everyone should take, but I do know as Christians we have a responsibility to help the poor, oppressed and aliens throughout our cities, countries and world.
